Abogados de inmigración in Lakeland, FL

Light the torch and cue that iconic Olympics theme song — we’re locked in on the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics happening through this Sunday, Aug. 11.

At this summer’s Olympic Games, approximately 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees will compete across 32 sports — including some new ones. Since we’re all about keeping it local, we’ve rounded up four Paris 2024 Olympians with ties to Lakeland and nearby cities that you should keep your eye on. Let the Games begin.

Monae’ Nichols, Women’s Long JumpAuburndale High School alum Nichols jumped 6.86 meters in her final attempt at the Olympic Trials — the exact distance she needed to qualify for the Olympic Games. She passed the qualification round to compete in the Long Jump finals on Thursday, Aug. 8.

Victor Montalvo, BreakingBetter known as “B-boy Victor,” breaker Montalvo is a native of Kissimmee, not too far east of Lakeland. Montalvo is the US’ highest-ranked male breaker, and he was the first American to qualify for this event that was introduced this year. Breaking events are Friday, Aug. 9 + Saturday, Aug. 10.

Dylan Travis, Men’s 3x3 BasketballThis former Moc played on Florida Southern College’s basketball team, helping them win a NCAA Division II National Championship in 2015. The Olympic team put up a good fight, even winning over silver medalist France during the pool rounds. Read our Q+A with Travis.

Tracy Otto, Para ArcheryPlant City native Otto will head to her first Paralympics, representing Team USA. Otto lost her left eye and was paralyzed from the chest down after a domestic violence attack — now, she advocates for domestic violence survivors. Catch her in Para Archery, happening Aug. 28-Sept. 5.

This post is sponsored and contributed by T-Mobile, a Patch Brand Partner.

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Debby reached the Big Bend coast of Florida early Monday, bringing with it the potential for catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge as it slowly passes over the northern part of the state. Forecasters warned that, in the coming days, record-setting rain could pummel coastal Georgia and South Carolina as the storm heads east.

The storm made landfall as a Category 1 storm near Steinhatchee, a tiny community in northern Florida of less than 1,000 residents on Florida’s Gulf Coast. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 10 mph (17 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The storm made landfall in one of the least populated areas of Florida, but forecasters warned heavy rain could spawn catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.

Storm surge was expected to be the biggest threat for Florida, with 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3 meters) of inundation above ground level predicted in part of the zone near the Big Bend, according to John Cangialosi, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center.

“That part of the coast is a very vulnerable spot,” he said Monday.

Some areas, including Sarasota and Manatee counties, have already received 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 centimeters) of rain.

“We expect to have several rivers and streams go into major flood stage," said Kevin Guthrie, the state’s director of emergency management.

Nearly 214,000 customers were without power in Florida on Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.com. In Marion County, which is inland and south of Gainesville, sheriff’s officials noted in a Facebook post Monday that crews were responding to reports of downed power lines and trees that have fallen on roadways and homes.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said some 17,000 linemen are working to restore electricity. He warned residents in affected areas to sit tight until conditions are safe.

“When the water rises, when you have streets that can be flooded, that’s hazardous,” DeSantis said. “Don’t try to drive through this. We don’t want to see traffic fatalities adding up. Don’t tempt fate, don’t try to go through these flooded streets."

Hurricane Debby has followed a track “very similar to Idalia 11 months ago,” DeSantis said. Idalia came ashore near Keaton Beach, Florida on Aug. 30, 2023, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph. Keaton Beach is about 20 miles north of Steinhatchee. He noted there were fewer power outages with Debby.

Images posted on social media by Cedar Key Fire Rescue early Monday showed floodwaters rising along the streets of the city, located south of where the storm made landfall. Water was "coming in at a pretty heavy pace,” the post said.

Debby was expected to move eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, thrashing the region with potential record-setting rains totaling up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) beginning Tuesday through Saturday morning. Flooding is expected to be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina.

Officials in Savannah said the area could see a month’s worth of rain in four days if the system stalls over the region.

Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris, all of which formed in June. In the Eastern Pacific, tropical storms Carlotta, Daniel and Emilia all churned over the ocean, but they weren’t threatening land.

Residents hunker down as storm passes through

“Right now, we are to trying secure everything from floating away,” said Sheryl Horne, whose family owns the Shell Island Fish Camp along the Wakulla River in St. Marks, Florida, where some customers moved their boats inland.

The sparsely populated Big Bend region in the Florida Panhandle also was hit last year by Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.

“I am used to storms and I’m used to cleaning up after storms,” Horne said.

“We’re all hanging on here - a bunch of us stayed,” Dawn Perez said Monday by phone, as the eyewall of Hurricane Debby bore down on her home in the small town of Perry, Florida. Perez, the director of the town’s tourism department, said she has a new roof after Hurricane Idalia tore it apart in August 2023.

“The winds are intense – I’ve already lost my porch door and a tree, and stuff is blowing all over the place,” Perez said.

Northeast coast also preparing for storm conditions

Emergency managers in New England and New York were monitoring the path of the storm for the possibility of remnants striking their states. Northeast states including New York and Vermont have been hit by heavy rain and thunderstorms in recent weeks and were still coping with flooding and saturated ground.

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This story has been updated to correct that the Big Bend area is north of Tampa, not south of Tampa.

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Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Jake Offenhartz contributed from New York. Jeff Martin reported from Atlanta and Freida Frisaro reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Kimberly Chandler And Christopher O'meara, The Associated Press

A Winn-Dixie store in Lakeland has shuttered, and an Aldi will take its place by early 2025, according to a letter posted to the Florida Department of Commerce website.

All 48 of the employees at the Winn-Dixie at 6902 S. Florida Ave. were laid off when the store closed July 29, the letter says. The layoff notice was posted Aug. 2 to the Florida Department of Commerce’s Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification website. Retail and management employees were impacted, including those in the supermarket and adjacent liquor store.

Workers were given the federally required 60 days’ notice before the closing date, according to M. Sandlin Grimm, chief legal officer for Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie.

Former Winn-Dixie employees can apply for jobs at the new Aldi that will take its place, Grimm says in a letter posted on the WARN site.

“The location will be converted to an Aldi grocery store and is expected to reopen in four to six months under that brand,” Grimm says.

Germany-based Aldi announced in March it acquired Southeastern Grocers, which includes 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana.

A “significant number” of Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores will be converted to Aldi supermarkets in the next several years, the company says in a March statement.

The Lakeland store is among about 50 locations the company says it plans to begin converting in the second half of 2024 that will reopen under the Aldi banner in 2025 as part of a “phased approach to the conversion process.”

Company officials say “a meaningful amount” of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets will continue to operate under their current banners.

On Aug. 8, a spokesperson for Aldi provided more information about the Lakeland Winn-Dixie closure.

"To ensure a smooth transition, Aldi worked diligently with Southeastern Grocers to provide support and opportunities for each associate, including providing the first opportunity to apply to roles at the newly converted Aldi store or remain with Winn-Dixie and transfer to a neighboring store prior to their store closing," a spokesperson for Aldi says in a statement. "Over a third of the associates were hired for the new Aldi location, and a significant number of associates elected to transfer to a nearby Winn-Dixie store. The remaining eligible associates chose to take severance."

This was updated to include comment from an Aldi spokesperson.

If you haven’t checked your storm supplies lately, now would be a good time to do it. A tropical storm watch has been issued for several counties including Polk.

A tropical storm watch means tropical storm conditions are possible within the next 48 hours. It would be raised to a tropical storm warning if conditions are expected within 36 hours.

Timing: The NWS forecast for Lakeland predicts a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms today and an 80% chance tomorrow. Potential tropical storm conditions would arrive Sunday, with a 90% chance of rain and an east-southeast wind of 11 to 16 mph in the morning, increasing to 23 to 28 mph in the afternoon.

The risks: The most recent advisory from the National Weather Service at 5:43 p.m. said the potential impacts are limited.

Storm track: The weather system is currently over eastern Cuba andthe southeastern Bahamas with sustained winds of 30 mph. It is too soon to know its exact track or intensity, but the storm is expected to cross the Gulf of Mexico and then move over Florida diagonally from the southwest to the northeast. The strongest impacts are expected to be on the Gulf coast, with winds of 40 to 50 mph.

The NOAA Hurricane Hunters, based at Lakeland Linder International Airport, are expected to fly into the weather system this afternoon.

No name yet: For now, the weather system is Potential Tropical Cyclone Four. If it strengthens, with sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph, it would be known as Tropical Storm Debby.

Sandbags: Polk County is opening seven sandbag distribution sites on Saturday only from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. including:

A maximum of 10 sandbags will be provided to each household address. Be prepared to show a driver’s license to prove local residency.

Closures and cancellations: The following are cancellations announced so far, but is a good idea to check with organizers before heading out this weekend.

Storm preparation: Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30. All Florida residents are encouraged to have supplies including flashlights, batteries and at least three days’ worth of nonperishable food for family members and pets. You can sign up for emergency notifications through AlertPolk.

State of emergency: Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a preemptive state of emergency for 54 of the state’s 67 counties on Thursday, and then added seven more counties Friday. Among other things, the declaration enables local jurisdictions to activate shelters, order evacuations and impose curfews if needed. It also allows people to refill prescriptions early and lets health practitioners from other states operate in Florida temporarily.

Price gouging hotline: Attorney General Ashley Moody activated the state’s price gouging hotline for emergency items like generators, food, gasoline, plywood, hotel rooms, ice and water. To report suspected price gouging, visit MyFloridaLegal.com or call (866) 9NO-SCAM.

FL sales tax holidays: A back-to-school sales tax holiday is currently in effect from July 29 to Aug. 11. There will be a disaster preparedness sales tax holiday from Aug. 24 to Sept. 6.